Information handling system mouse power management

ABSTRACT

An information handling system mouse includes a position sensor that detects movement and a push button that detects button press inputs for communication to an information handling system. The position sensor detects positions with a high sensitivity having a higher power consumption or a low sensitivity having a lower sensitivity. The push button detects button press inputs with a high scan rate having a higher power consumption or a low scan rate having a lower power consumption. The mouse configures to plural high and low power consumption modes based upon a detected usage pattern and/or a command from an information handling system, such as to adapt the mouse to use by different applications executing on the information handling system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to the field of informationhandling system input devices, and more particularly to an informationhandling system mouse power management.

Description of the Related Art

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

Generally, information handling systems can have a portable orstationary configuration. Stationary configurations generally are tiedto a location by external resources, such as a power plug inserted in anoutlet, and use external peripherals, such as a peripheral display,keyboard and mouse. Portable information handling systems integrateprocessing components, a display and a power source in a portablehousing to support mobile operations. Portable information handlingsystems allow end users to carry a system between meetings, duringtravel, and between home and office locations so that an end user hasaccess to processing capabilities while mobile. Tablet configurationstypically expose a touchscreen display on a planar housing that bothoutputs information as visual images and accepts inputs as touches.Convertible configurations typically include multiple separate housingportions that couple to each other so that the system converts betweenclosed and open positions. For example, a main housing portionintegrates processing components and a keyboard and rotationally coupleswith hinges to a lid housing portion that integrates a display. In aclamshell configuration, the lid housing portion rotates approximatelyninety degrees to a raised position above the main housing portion sothat an end user can type inputs while viewing the display. After usage,convertible information handling systems rotate the lid housing portionover the main housing portion to protect the keyboard and display, thusreducing the system footprint for improved storage and mobility.Although portable information handling systems integrate a display andinput devices, they also typically will work with external peripheraldevices, such as a peripheral display, mouse and keyboard, that enduser's find more convenient than the integrated display and inputdevices.

End users often find a peripheral mouse to be a powerful tool with asimple to understand point and click usage model. A typical end usermight use a mouse in a low intensity environment, such as web surfing,or a high intensity environment such as gaming. Within a gamingapplication usage case, a mouse might control inputs by movement of themouse body over a desktop surface or by clicks at an input buttonexposed at an upper surface of the mouse body. Mouse movements mayprovide varying degrees of accuracy so that small end user inputs areprecisely translated to mouse cursor motion presented at a display ormore loosely translated for less precise inputs. Similarly, mouse inputbuttons may involve rapid button press inputs, such as for use in a gameto trigger a weapon firing, or just occasional presses, such as clicksto open documents or emails. A gamer may, for instance, rely on anexpensive and high quality mouse to gain an edge when gaming formovement and input button presses and then use the same high precisionmouse in less demanding tasks. A high end mouse can include a higherquality position sensor that detects position changes with high accuracyand robust buttons that distinguish separate inputs made in rapidsuccession.

One difficulty with higher precision position sensors and push buttonsis that the position sensing and button press logic tend to consumeincreased power relative to less precise mouse devices. In someinstances, the high precision position sensing is not necessary and adistraction to more germane mouse usage. Typically, a selection buttonon the bottom of the mouse allows an end user select whether to operatethe mouse in a high precision mode or a lower precision mode so that,for instance, a gamer can use the gaming mouse both for gamingapplications and more common application environments that are lessdemanding. Selecting less precise mouse resolution tends to have abeneficial side effect of increasing mouse battery charge life. Endusers tend to find selection of mouse resolution as inconvenient,especially where the end user has to turn the mouse over to find theresolution button. Another difficulty with higher precision positionsensors is that presentation of the mouse cursor at a display havingmovement defined by the mouse position sensor resolution can vary basedupon the resolution of the display showing the mouse cursor. When aninformation handling system presents visual images at multiple displays,the movement of the mouse cursor between the displays can disorient theend user by changing based upon the display resolution.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, a need has arisen for a system and method which manages powerconsumption of a mouse having selectable input sensitivity.

A further need exists for a system and method that adapts mouse positionsensor sensitivity as the mouse cursor moves between displays ofdifferent resolutions.

In accordance with the present invention, a system and method areprovided which substantially reduce the disadvantages and problemsassociated with previous methods and systems for managing powerconsumption at a peripheral mouse device. Mouse position sensorsensitivity and/or button press sensitivity are adjusted based uponmouse usage context, such as accelerations experienced at the mouse orthe time between button press inputs. Adjusting between a high powerconsumption operating mode that has greater power consumption, such ashigh position sensor sensitivity and/or rapid button press polling,provides improved mouse performance when desired while a low powerconsumption operating mode adequate for most tasks helps to prolongbattery life when increased performance is not necessary.

In another embodiment, mouse position sensor sensitivity adapts as amouse cursor position transitions between displays having differentresolutions so that mouse movement provides consistent mouse cursormovement at each display. For example, a display scalar reports to themouse the display resolution at activation of the mouse cursor so thatthe mouse processing resource can set a mouse position sensor resolutionassociated with the display resolution.

More specifically, an information handling system processes informationwith a processor that executes instructions in cooperation with a memorythat stores the instructions and information, and presents theinformation as visual images at a display. A mouse interfaced with theinformation handling system has a position sensor that detects movementof the mouse and reports the movement to the information handling systemfor presentation as a cursor movement. The mouse position sensor detectsmouse movement with a precision mode that has a greater powerconsumption and a non-precision mode that has a lower power consumption.The mouse includes a push button that detects end user button presseswith a precision mode that has a greater polling rate with a greaterpower consumption and a non-precision mode that has a reduced pollingand a reduced power consumption. A power manager of the mouse monitorsmouse operating context to selectively adjust the mouse position sensorand push button between the precision and non-precision modes so powerconsumption and performance are balanced based upon end user mouse inputdetection needs. Other mouse functions may be adapted to manage powerconsumption, such as indication illumination and position sensorillumination. When reporting mouse position sensor inputs to aninformation handling system for presentation at plural displays, theposition sensor resolution of the mouse movement detected by theposition sensor is adjusted based upon the display resolution so thatthe mouse cursor movement created by mouse housing movement remainsconsistent as the mouse cursor moves at displays having differentresolutions.

The present invention provides a number of important technicaladvantages. One example of an important technical advantage is that aninformation handling system mouse balance power consumption withposition sensor and push button sensitivity to provide desiredperformance with minimal power consumption. As a result an end user getsexpected performance and extended battery life for an improved end userexperience. Adapting mouse resolution based upon the resolution of adisplay presenting a mouse cursor enhances the end user experience bykeeping a consistent mouse performance when multiple displays ofdifferent resolutions are in use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be better understood, and its numerousobjects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in theart by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the samereference number throughout the several figures designates a like orsimilar element.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an information handling systemconfigured to manage mouse power consumption based upon mouse usagecontext and mouse resolution reporting based upon mouse and displayresolution;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a mouse that supports powerconsumption management based upon mouse usage context and mouseresolution reporting based upon mouse and display resolution;

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of a process for adaptive power managementbased upon application type;

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict flow diagrams of a process for managing mouseillumination based upon context;

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of a mouse configured to adapt positionsensor resolution reporting based upon display visual image presentationresolution; and

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a process for managing mouse positionsensor resolution at transitions of presentation of the mouse cursorbetween displays of different resolution.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An information handling system mouse manages power consumption andposition sensor resolution based upon operating context. For purposes ofthis disclosure, an information handling system may include anyinstrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute,classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch,store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilizeany form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific,control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling systemmay be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any othersuitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality,and price. The information handling system may include random accessmemory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/orother types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of theinformation handling system may include one or more disk drives, one ormore network ports for communicating with external devices as well asvarious input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, anda video display. The information handling system may also include one ormore buses operable to transmit communications between the varioushardware components.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a block diagram depicts an informationhandling system 10 configured to manage mouse 32 power consumption basedupon mouse usage context and mouse resolution reporting based upon mouseand display resolution. In the example embodiment, information handlingsystem has a stationary configuration built in a housing 12, such as adesktop or tower housing that couples to external power and peripherals.In alternative embodiments, a portable information handling system maybe used instead, such as for a convertible system having an integrateddisplay, battery and keyboard. A central processing unit (CPU) 14processes information by executing instructions of applications, such asan operating system and gaming applications. A random access memory(RAM) 16 supports CPU 14 by storing the instructions and information foraccess by CPU 14. A solid state drive (SSD) 18 provides persistentstorage of the instructions and information, such as with flash memorythat is read at power up to RAM 16 for execution on CPU 14. An embeddedcontroller 20 interfaces with CPU 14 to manage physical devices, such asthermal conditions, application of power and interactions withperipheral devices. A wireless network interface controller (WNIC) 22supports wireless communications, such as with WiFi and Bluetooth, withexternal networks and peripheral devices. A graphics processor unit(GPU) 24 interfaces with CPU 14 and further processes the information togenerate visual images for presentation at a display 28, such as bydefining pixel values that communicate through display cable 26 todisplay 28 to define colors for the array of pixels of display 28. Forinstance, Ultra High Definition (UHD) displays typically have an arrayof around 3840 horizontal pixels by 2160 vertical pixels and are alsogenerally known as 4K displays. As another example, Quad High Definition(QHD) displays typically have an array of 2560 horizontal pixels by 1440vertical pixels and are also generally known as 2K displays. Variationsof these sizes exist that generally fall within the 2K and 4K displayresolution definitions.

To aid end user interactions with content presented at display 28, amouse cursor 30 is presented when a mouse 32 interfaces with informationhandling system 10. Mouse 32 may present and control cursor 30 in avariety of conventional manners. For example, mouse 32 may interfacethrough a cable with information handling system, such as by a USB portmanaged by embedded controller 20. Alternatively, mouse 32 may interfacethrough wireless signals through WNIC 22, such as Bluetooth. In someinstances, mouse 32 may communicate directly with display 28, which thenforwards the mouse cursor 30 positions to embedded controller 20 for useby CPU 14. Mouse 32 detects changes in position of mouse housing 36 witha position sensor disposed within and also accepts inputs through pushbuttons 34, sometimes referred to as right or left mouse clicks. A mousemanager 37 retrieved from non-transitory memory and executed on CPU 14and/or embedded controller 20 manages interactions with mouse 32, suchas a driver of an operating system. Positions on display 28 of mousecursor 30 as set by movement of mouse housing 36 interact through theoperating system with other applications so that presses on push buttons34 provide inputs. As an example, a mouse click may be an input to agaming application, such as a firing of a weapon at an object presentedon display 28 at the position of mouse cursor 30. As is set forth ingreater detail below, information handling system 10 and mouse 32coordinate to manage power usage and pointing input resolution atmultiple displays.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , a block diagram depicts a mouse 32 thatsupports power consumption management based upon mouse usage context andmouse resolution reporting based upon mouse and display resolution. Inthe example embodiment, mouse housing 36 has a size that fits in a palmof a hand and contains a processing resource 38 that manages mouseoperations, such an MCU. An accelerometer 40 interfaces with processingresource 38 to detect accelerations of mouse housing 36 and report theaccelerations to processing resource 38. Push buttons 34 interface withprocessing resource 38, which polls for contact of the button due to apush, such as by checking a GPIO periodically based upon a timer. Aposition sensor 42 is exposed at a bottom surface of mouse housing 36 todetect movement of mouse 32 when resting on a support surface, such asdesktop surface. For instance, position sensor 42 is an optical sensorthat tracks changes in position by changes in visual images capturedover time. A position sensor LED 43, such as a laser, can provideillumination for position sensor 42 to aid in capture of optical imagesthat show position changes. For instance, position sensor LED 43 mayprovide illumination to help locate the support surface, such as whenthe mouse is lifted up and away from the support surface or when highprecision is desired and extra illumination helps enhance positionsensor accuracy. A flash memory 44 or other non-transitory memory,stores instructions that execute on processing resource 38 to detectmouse inputs and report the mouse inputs to an information handlingsystem. In the example embodiment, flash memory 44 stores a powermanager 46 that executes on processing resource 38 to manage power useof mouse 32. An indicator illumination LED 48, such as to illuminate aproduct logo at the mouse upper surface, or other illumination sourceprovides an illumination indicator at the upper surface of mouse 32,such as a visual indication that the mouse is on.

By reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , power and position reporting are managedat mouse 32 to adapt to a context of the mouse usage. With respect topower management, mouse manager 37 and power manager 46 cooperate toadjust mouse position sensor, push button polling and light illuminationso that battery discharge is efficiently applied to achieve end userperformance. Position sensor 42, for example may detect changes inposition of the mouse housing with various degrees of precision, such asby increasing the sample rate at the position sensor, increasing orapplying illumination at the position sensor to improve sensitivity,performing a more detailed analysis of information captured by theposition sensor by dedicating more processing resources to positionsensing, and increasing wireless communications of position changes.Push button 34, as another example, can more precisely differentiaterapid push button inputs by monitoring the push button contact with morefrequent polling by processing resource 38. Illumination at indicatorillumination LED 48 and position sensor LED 43 provide another pathwayfor power management by limiting illumination, for instance, whenindicator illumination LED 48 is covered by an end user hand or positionsensor 43 is too distant to a support surface to be effective forincreasing position detection or unnecessary for a selected positionsensor sensitivity. Processing resource 38 manages power consumption inbalance against mouse usage context by selectively adjusting positionsensor sensitivity, push button sensitivity and illumination settings.

In one example embodiment, position sensor and push button sensitivitieseach have high, low and off power states. A high power consumption stateof the position sensor detects position changes with a high accuracy,such as by increased sampling and illumination; a low power consumptionstate detects position changes with a low accuracy, such as by a reducedsample rate and without illumination; and an off power state powers downthe position sensor to reduce power consumption to zero or near zero. Apower consumption state of the push button detects button presses with ahigh polling rate of the processing resource that distinguishes buttonpushes with greater accuracy at a high processing cycle and power use; alow power consumption having a lower polling rate of the processingresource that is less accurate at distinguishing push button inputs at alower processing cycle and power use; and an off power consumption inwhich the processing resource does not poll for push button inputs andmay sleep. One manner to manage power consumption state is by monitoringof accelerations by accelerometer 40. For instance, when high orfrequent accelerations are detected, a high power consumption mode iscommanded, and when the mouse housing movements are smaller and lessfrequent a low power consumption mode is commanded. Another manner tomanage power consumption state is by tracking how often mouse pushbutton press inputs are detected so that more frequent presses resultsin greater polling and less frequent presses results in less polling. Inone embodiment, the position sensor and push buttons may have differentpower consumption states based upon the context, such as having highposition sensor tracking with a low push button polling and vice versa.Indicator illumination LED 48 can selectively power up and down basedupon an analysis of context to determine when an end user hand is placedon the mouse upper surface, as is set forth in greater detail below.

In one alternative embodiment, power manager 46 and mouse manager 37cooperate to analyze mouse operations for different applications so thatexecution of an application on information handling system 10 results ina proactive setting of the mouse to configure to a setting associatedwith the activity. For example, a gaming application that has a patternof active movement and input clicks is classified as a high powerconsumption application that has both the position sensor and inputbutton in a high accuracy state at initiation of the application.Monitoring of actual end user interactions at the mouse may result inchanges to other power states as the end user engages in active use ofthe application or rests. Other gaming applications that have a patternof rapid push button inputs, such as to fire a weapon, with less mousemovement will have an application type that initiates to high powerstate for polling of the input button and a low power state for positiontracking. Alternatively, some gaming applications that have a pattern ofrapid mouse movements with fewer push button inputs initiate to a typehaving high power consumption for the position sensor and a low powerconsumption for push button polling. When the mouse is used withnon-gaming applications, such as word processing or web browsing, a typeis defined to initiate in low power consumption operations for both theposition sensor and the input button polling. Mouse manager 28communicates the type of application to mouse power manager 46 forinitiation at the mouse to the appropriate position sensor and pollingsensitivity. Over time, power manager 46 tracks the mouse inputs todefine the application type as feedback to the information handlingsystem. Alternatively, embedded controller 20 tracks mouse cursor andinput button inputs over to time to develop a type of application andstores the type of application so that the type is communicated to themouse at power up to initiate in the appropriate sensitivity.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , a flow diagram depicts a process for adaptivepower management based upon application type. In the example embodiment,four different application types are defined: First Person Shooter(FPS); Role Playing Game (RPG); Multi-online Battle Arena (MOBA); andReal Time Strategy (RTS). The process starts at step 50 with theprocessing resource, such as an MCU monitoring mouse activities basedupon sensor speed and accelerations and upon mouse push button clickrates and numbers. As set forth above, mouse housing movement may betracked by an accelerometer; alternatively, position sensor inputs maybe used to track the amount of mouse housing movement. At step 52 adetermination is made of whether the position sensor or accelerometerhave a high or low acceleration, such as with a threshold stored in anaccelerometer that counts accelerations of greater than a defined amountin a defined time. If the mouse movement exceeds the threshold, theprocess continues to step 54 to configure the position sensor in highsensitivity and high power consumption mode. If at step 52 the mousehousing movement does not exceed the threshold, the process continues tostep 56 to configure the position sensor to the low sensitivity and lowpower consumption. From step 50, the mouse push button inputs aremonitored at step 58 to determine if the number of mouse clicks in adefined time exceeds a defined threshold. If the threshold is exceeded,the process continues to step 60 to use the high polling rate withhigher power consumption, such as 1000 Hz. If the threshold is notexceeded, the process continues to step 62 to apply a lower polling ratewith a lower power consumption, such as 500 to 1000 Hz.

Once the position sensor sensitivity and input button polling aredetermined, the process continues to steps 64, 68, 72 and 76 to assignthe mouse a power management configuration based upon the positionsensor and input button context determinations. From steps 54 and 60 theprocess continues to step 64 to determine if the application meets theFPS game play type requirement having a high position sensor sensitivityand a high input button sensitivity. If so, the process continues tostep 66 to keep the FPS mode and to step 80 to collect the selectiondata to refine mouse power settings for future use. If at step 64 theFPS mode is not an appropriate selection, the process continues to step68 for the determination described below. At steps 56 and 62, if theposition sensor has a high sensitivity setting and the input button hasa low input button sensitivity, the process continues to step 68 todetermine if the context meets the RPG game play type requirement. Ifso, the process continues to step 70 with the RPG game play type set andto step 80 to collect and analyze the data. If the RPG game play type isnot appropriate, the process continues to step 72 for the determinationdescribed below. If at step 56 and 60 the position sensor sensitivity isset low and the input button polling rate is set to high, the processcontinues to step 72 to determine if the MOBA game play type requirementis met. If at step 72 the MOBA game type is appropriate, the processcontinues to step 74 to keep the position sensor and input buttonsettings for the MOBA mode and to step 80 to track the mouse typeselection data. If at step 72 a determination is made that the MOBA gametype is not appropriate, the process continues to step 76 as describedbelow. At step 54 and 62 if the position sensor sensitivity is set highand the button polling sensitivity is set low, the process continues tostep 76 to determine if the RTS game play requirement type isappropriate. If so the process continues to step 78 to keep the RTS modeand to step 80 to track the mouse type selection data. In variousembodiments, a default mode of low power may be applied if an erroroccurs in the selection of the position sensor and input buttonsensitivities.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, flow diagrams depict a process formanaging mouse illumination based upon context. In the exampleembodiment mouse position sensor focus and mouse click inputs provideindications of mouse use that are applied to determine when the logoillumination indicator LED is covered by an end user hand and cantherefore be powered off. The process starts at step 82 with the mousemoving and the position sensor focused on the mouse mat or other supportsurface. At step 84 a determination is made of whether the sensorcontinues to detect movement focused on the mouse mat or other supportsurface. If not, then the context indicates that the mouse is notresting on the mat or support surface and at step 86 the logoillumination indicator LED is turned off and the position sensorresolution LED is turned on. The context indicates that a hand is overthe indicator LED lifting the mouse from the support surface so thatturning on the position sensor resolution LED aids in locating the mator support surface when the mouse is placed down again for use. At step88 a determination is made of whether the position sensor has returnedto within a range of the mat or support surface so that a positionsensor focus can be achieved. If not, the process continues to step 90to keep the logo indicator LED off and to turn off the position sensorresolution LED based on a context indication that the mouse has beenplaced in a storage location, such as bag. At step 92 after a one minutetimeout, the mouse is placed in an off power state, such as a deep sleepthat wakes with a sharp acceleration or button press. If at step 88 theposition sensor obtains focus, the process continues to step 94 to keepthe logo indicator LED turned off and to turn off the position sensorresolution LED. When the position sensor is focused after not beingfocused, the context suggests that the end user has lifted and placedback down the mouse. From step 94 a determination is made at step 96whether the mouse moves position, indicating an end user hand over theindicator LED, or stops moving, indicating the end user has removed thehand. At step 98, if the mouse has not stopped moving for two seconds,the logo indicator LED and resolution LED are turned off based upon acontext of active use of the mouse. If at step 96 the mouse does stopmoving within the two seconds, the process continues to step 112 to turnthe logo indicator LED on and the resolution LED off based upon acontext that the end user has raised a hand away from the mouse but maybe prepared to start using the mouse again. At step 114, after twominutes without detection of movement at the mouse, a deep sleep may beentered with the indicator and resolution LEDs off and the positionsensor and processing resource in an off power state.

Returning to step 84, if the mouse is moving and the position sensor isfocused on the mat or other support surface, the process continues tostep 100 to determine if any mouse clicks are detected at the mouse pushbuttons. If mouse input button clicks are detected, such as with in apredetermined time, the process continues to step 102 to turn the logoindicator LED off and keep the resolution LED off based upon a contextthat the mouse is in active use with an end user hand over the mousehousing. From step 102 the process continues to step 104 to monitor themouse movement and detect a failure to move for a period of two seconds.While movement is detected, the process continues to step 106 to keepthe logo indicator light and LED resolution LED off and returns to step104 to continue monitoring the mouse for use. At step 100 when a mouseinput button click is not detected and step 104 when movement of themouse has stopped for two seconds, the context indicates that the mouseuse has ended and the end user has lifted his hand from the mouse. Inresponse, at step 108 the logo indicator LED is turned on and theresolution LED remains off. At step 110, after two minutes of no mousemovement, the mouse enters the deep sleep mode with the processingresource and position sensor in the off state. The context derived fromthe mouse provides a basis for saving power from the illumination of theindicator LED when hidden by an end user.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , a block diagram depicts a mouse configured toadapt position sensor resolution reporting based upon display visualimage presentation resolution. In the example embodiment, informationhandling system 10 executes applications on CPU 14 and RAM 16 togenerate visual images with GPU 24 for presentation at a first display120 having 2K resolution and a second display 122 having a 4Kresolution. Each of displays 120 and 122 include a timing controller 128that scans pixel values to the display panel to define the visual imagesand a scalar 126 that adjusts visual images to the resolution of thedisplay panel. Mouse 32 controls a location of presentation of a mousecursor at each display 120 and 122 by reporting changes in position ofthe mouse detected by a position sensor of the mouse. In the exampleembodiment, mouse 32 reports position changes to embedded controller 20,which forwards the position to scalar 126 to present the mouse cursor atthe appropriate location. In alternative embodiments the mouse positionchanges may be presented as changes to the mouse cursor position withvarious communication flows, such as directly from the mouse to thescalar, through a USB hub controller and through a WNIC interface. Mouse32 has selectable resolution for detecting changes in the mouseposition, such as a 1K resolution and a 2K resolution. Higher and lowerresolution of mouse position changes may be selected by a manual switchon the mouse and/or configured through a user interface supported by themouse driver. In the example embodiment, a mouse cursor resolutionmanager 124 stored in non-transitory memory of the information handlingsystem and executed on CPU 14 and/or embedded controller 20.

A difficulty with selectable mouse resolution is that the positionchanges reported will have different mouse cursor movements at displaysthat have different display resolutions. To address this problem, when ascalar 126 of a display initiates a presentation of a mouse cursor, thescalar communicates the display resolution to the mouse so that themouse can set a position sensor resolution associated with the displayresolution. By way of example, first display 120 presents visual images,such as an FPS game, with a display resolution of 2K and moves thecursor with a 1K position sensor resolution; second display 122 presentsvisual images, such as a MOBA game, with a display resolution of 4K andmoves the cursor with a 2K position sensor resolution. In this example,when the mouse cursor transitions from the 2K display to the 4K display,the mouse position sensor resolution transitions from 1K to 2K so thatmouse movements provide the same mouse cursor movements at the differentdisplays. At a transition of the mouse cursor to a different display,the scalar of the display that initiates presentation of the mousecursor will report the display resolution to the mouse so that the mouseprocessing resource can automatically adjust the mouse position sensorresolution to the display resolution, such as by comparing against atable stored in non-transitory memory of the mouse that relates displayresolutions and mouse resolutions. In alternative embodiments, otherresources and logic may be used to adjust the mouse resolution. Forinstance, embedded controller 20 may act as an intermediary thatcommands mouse position sensor resolution based upon cursor location anddisplay resolution reported to the embedded controller. In anotheralternative embodiment, the mouse may receive an initial mouse cursorposition and display resolution from the display and then track positionchanges commanded from the mouse to estimate when the mouse cursortransitions between displays. Alternatively a similar map may be used inthe embedded controller. Although the example embodiment depicts firstand second peripheral displays interfaced with a stationary informationhandling system, in an alternative embodiment, one of the displays maybe integrated in a portable information handling system so that thedisplay resolution and cursor movement are managed between theintegrated display and a peripheral display. In some instances where alarge surface area discrepancy exists, such as a smaller integrateddisplay and larger peripheral display, the mouse position sensorresolution may include a further adjustment that maintains a consistentmouse cursor movement taking in consideration both the difference indisplay surface area and display resolution.

Referring now to FIG. 6 , a flow diagram depicts a process for managingmouse position sensor resolution at transitions of presentation of themouse cursor between displays of different resolution. The processstarts at step 130 when the display scalar integrated circuit detectsthat a mouse cursor is active at the display. In response, at step 132the display sends its display resolution settings to the display USB hubor other communication medium. At step 134, the display USB hub receivesthe display resolution from the scalar, such as through an I2Cinterface, as both an indication that the mouse cursor is initiated anda value for the display resolution on which the mouse cursor ispresented. At step 136, the mouse processing resource receives thedisplay resolution from the USB hub or other communication medium, suchas a wireless interface, as both an indication that the mouse cursor ispresented at a display and the resolution of the display. At step 138 adetermination is made of whether the display resolution matches theposition sensor resolution set on the mouse, such as by comparing thedisplay resolution against a table that relates display and positionsensor resolutions. If the position sensor resolution matches thatcalled for with the display resolution, the process continues to step140 to keep the mouse position sensor resolution setting. If theposition sensor resolution does not match that called for with thereported display resolution, the process continues to step 142 tocommand position sensor resolution changed to that associated with thereported display resolution.

Although the present invention has been described in detail, it shouldbe understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can bemade hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information handling system comprising: aprocessor operable to execute instructions that process information; amemory interfaced with the processor and operable to store theinstructions and information; a controller interfaced with the processorand operable to accept inputs from peripheral devices for communicationto the processor; and a mouse interfaced with the controller, the mousehaving a housing, a processing resource, a non-transitory memory, aposition sensor operable to detect movement of the housing as a pointerinput to the controller, and a push button operable to detect a buttonpress as a button input to the controller, the non-transitory memorystoring instructions that when executed on the processing resource causethe position sensor and push button to operate in a high powerconsumption mode, a low power consumption mode and an off mode basedupon one or more predetermined conditions.
 2. The information handlingsystem of claim 1 further comprising: a mouse manager associated withthe controller and operable to associate an application executing on theprocessor with a selected of plural mouse power modes; and the one ormore predetermined conditions comprise the selected mouse power modecommunicated from the mouse manager to the mouse processing resource. 3.The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the plural mousepower modes comprise: a high power consumption mode for both theposition sensor and the push button; a high power consumption mode forthe position sensor and a low power consumption mode for the pushbutton; a low power consumption mode for the position sensor and a highpower consumption mode for the push button; and a low power consumptionfor both the position sensor and the push button.
 4. The informationhandling system of claim 1 wherein the mouse further comprises: anaccelerometer operable to detect accelerations of the mouse housing; andinstructions stored in the non-transitory memory that when executed onthe processing resource track movement of the mouse housing detected bythe accelerometer to selectively command the high power consumption modeand low power consumption mode of the position sensor.
 5. Theinformation handling system of claim 4 wherein the processing resourcecommunicates the use of high power consumption mode and low powerconsumption mode at the position sensor to the processor for associationwith an application executing on the processor.
 6. The informationhandling system of claim 1 wherein the instructions further track pushbutton presses to selectively command the high power consumption modefor polling of the push button and the low power consumption mode forpolling of the push button.
 7. The information handling system of claim6 wherein the processing resource communicates the use of high powerconsumption mode and low power consumption mode for the polling of thepush button to the processor for association with an applicationexecuting on the processor.
 8. The information handling system of claim1 wherein the high power consumption mode and the low power consumptionmode comprise first and second polling rates of the push button todetect the button press.
 9. The information handling system of claim 8wherein the high power consumption mode and the low power consumptionmode further comprise a position sensor detection rate.
 10. A method formanaging power consumption at an information handling system mouse, themethod comprising: associating mouse inputs with a plural type of mouseusage; associating each of the plural types of mouse usage with one ofplural power consumption modes; detecting one of the plural types ofmouse usage; and in response to the detecting the one of the pluraltypes of usage, operating the mouse with the power consumption modeassociated with the detected type of usage.
 11. The method of claim 10further comprising: monitoring mouse accelerations to detect a highpower consumption mode at greater than a predetermined acceleration anda low power consumption mode at less than the predeterminedacceleration; setting a first position sensor sensitivity when the highpower consumption mode is detected; and setting a second polling rate ofthe mouse button when the low power consumption mode is detected, thesecond polling rate less frequent than the high polling rate.
 12. Themethod of claim 10 further comprising: monitoring mouse button inputs todetect a high power consumption mode at greater than a predeterminedrate of mouse button inputs and a low power consumption mode at lessthan the predetermined rate of mouse button inputs; setting a firstpolling rate of the mouse button when the high power consumption mode isdetected; and setting a second polling rate of the mouse button when thelow power consumption mode is detected, the second polling rate lessfrequent than the high polling rate.
 13. The method of claim 10 furthercomprising: initiating an application on the information handlingsystem, the application associated with a type of mouse usage having anassociated power consumption mode; and commanding from informationhandling system to the mouse the associated power consumption mode. 14.The method of claim 13 further comprising: in response to thecommanding, adjusting a poll rate applied to detect a mouse button pressto a poll rate of the associated power consumption mode.
 15. The methodof claim 13 further comprising: in response to the commanding, adjustinga position sensor sensitivity applied to detect a mouse movement to aposition sensor sensitivity of the associated power consumption mode.16. The method of claim 13 further comprising: in response to thecommanding, adjusting a poll rate applied to detect a mouse button pressto a poll rate of a low power mode; and in response to the commanding,adjusting a position sensor sensitivity applied to detect a mousemovement to a position sensor sensitivity of a high power mode.
 17. Themethod of claim 13 wherein detecting further comprises: in response tothe commanding, adjusting a poll rate applied to detect a mouse buttonpress to a poll rate of a high power mode; and in response to thecommanding, adjusting a position sensor sensitivity applied to detect amouse movement to a position sensor sensitivity of a low power mode. 18.A mouse comprising: a housing; a processing resource disposed in thehousing and operable to execute instructions to process information; aposition sensor interfaced with the processing resource, the positionsensor detecting movement of the housing with a first and secondsensitivity; a push button interfaced with the processing resource andoperable to detect a button press with a first and second polling rate;and a non-transitory memory storing instructions that when executed onthe processing resource cause the position sensor to have the first orsecond sensitivity and the push button to have the first or secondpolling rate based upon one or more predetermined conditions.
 19. Themouse of claim 18 wherein the predetermined conditions comprise:monitoring of predetermined accelerations of the mouse housing by anaccelerometer integrated in the housing; and monitoring of predeterminedpush button inputs at the push button.
 20. The mouse of claim 19 whereinthe predetermined conditions comprise a command from an informationhandling system interfaced with the mouse based upon an applicationexecuting on the information handling system.